CARL    ZERRAI1N. 


THE 


New  England  Magazine. 


New  Series. 


OCTOBER,   1899. 


Vol.  XXI.  No.  2. 


FORTY 


YEARS    OF   MUSICAL    LIFE    IN    NEW 
ENGLAND. 

*  v 

By  Martha  Dana  Shepard. 


I  SHALL  always  recall  with  pleas- 
ure the  fact  that  I  made  my  first 
appearance  in  public  as  a  musician 
under  the  auspices  of  that  distin- 
guished man  who  did  so  much  for  the 
cause  of  music  in  New  England,  par- 
ticularly church  music  and  chorus 
singing,  Mr.  Lowell  Mason.  I  was 
eight  years  old  at  the  time.  Mr. 
Mason  had  come  to  Plymouth,  New 
Hampshire,  to  direct  one  of  the  gath- 
erings so  commonly  spoken  of  then 
as  a  "county  sing."  On  such  an  oc- 
casion the  people  who  were  musically 
inclined  would  gather  from  all  over 
the  county  for  musical  drill,  con- 
ducted by  some  well-known  local 
teacher  or  some  man  of  wider  fame, 
like  Mr.  Mason,  hired  to  come  from 
Boston  for  the  occasion.  The  ambi- 
tious achievements  of  the  country  fes- 
tivals ot  to-day,  when  entire  oratorios 
of  world-wide  reputation  are  sung, 
and  often  well  sung,  by  country 
choruses,  were  unknown  then.  The 
chorus  spent  more  than  half  the  time 
singing  psalmody,  with  glees  and  part 
songs  interspersed  for  recreation. 
The  rest  of  the  time  was  devoted  to 
anthems  and  choruses  from  the  great 
oratorios  and  operas.  In  this  way 
country  singers  became  familiar  with 
many  of  the  world's  musical  master- 
pieces,   such    as    "The    Heavens    are 

131 


Telling,"  and  the  "Hallelujah 
Chorus,"  with  a  result  which  could 
not  but  be  beneficial  to  country 
music. 

In  those  days,  the  small  "county 
sings,"  those  of  only  one  day's  dura- 
tion, would  often  take  place  at  the 
home  of  some  one  interested  in  music ; 
but  the  larger  gatherings,  where  a 
famous  director  like  Mr.  Mason  was 
to  conduct,  would  meet  in  a  more 
public  place.  I  have  often  been  to  the 
old  Pemigewasset  House  at  Plym- 
outh, New  Hampshire,  for  this  pur- 
pose. At  the  time  I  first  played  in 
public  we  met  in  the  village  church. 
Mr.  Mason  was  then  an  old  man  with 
white  hair.  I  remember  that  he  was 
not  large  in  stature  and  that  he  always 
wore  a  little  black  cap.  Everybody 
looked  up  to  him  as  a  sort  of  saint  in 
music,  an  opinion  which  the  silk  cap 
strengthened  in  my  childish  mind,  I 
think.  I  wish  I  could  remember  more 
about  Mr.  Mason ;  but  I  was  so  much 
a  child  that  I  fear  I  thought  little  of 
anything  except  myself  and  my  play- 
ing. I  played  "Home,  Sweet  Home," 
with  variations,  and  was  so  small  that 
I  had  to  be  lifted  on  and  off  the  piano 
stool.  As  I  look  back  to  that  time, 
and  remember  how  I  played,  I  think 
my  "tempo"  and  "expression"  must 
have  been  a  source  of  amusement  to 


132 


FORTY     YEARS    OF    MUSICAL    LIFE. 


the  eminent  direc- 
tor, and  1  can  only 
hope  that  he  did  not 
remember  me  any 
better  than  I  do 
him. 

I  suppose  I  was 
looked  upon  as  an 
infant  prodigy;  but 
I  do  not  think  I  was 
a  prodigy  at  all.  My 
father,  Dr.  J.  A. 
Dana,  had  a  fine 
musical  tempera- 
ment, played  the 
violin  well  and  was 
also  a  good  tenor 
singer.  My  mother 
played  the  piano, 
and  was  a  singer  of 
local  reputation.  I 
cannot  remember 
when  she  began  to 
teach  me  to  play  the 
piano,  but  it  must  have 
been  when  I  was 
very  young,  for  I  do 
not  remember  the 
time  when  I  did  not 
play,  gaining  expe- 
rience by  playing 
accompaniments  for 
my  father.  Our 
home  life  was  singu- 
larly happy.  I  can- 
not imagine  how 
any  could  be  hap- 
pier. While  he  had  only  moder- 
ate means,  and  followed  faithfully 
the  arduous  profession  of  a  coun- 
try physician,  my  father  loved 
the  beautiful  in  nature  and  every- 
thing which  was  beautiful  in  life, 
flowers,  music,  books  and  pictures, 
and,  so  far  as  he  could  do  so,  en- 
dowed his  home  with  such  surround- 
ings. It  may  have  been  partly  this, 
as  well  as  my  parents'  genial  hospi- 
tality, which  made  our  home  a  centre 
to  which  friends  and  neighbors  liked 
to  come.  Very  many  were  the  even- 
ings when  a  dozen  or  more,  musically 
inclined,  would  be  gathered  in  our  sil- 
ting room,  bringing  their  instruments 


MARTHA   DANA   SHEPARD. 

with  them.  Basses,  violins  and  the 
smaller  wind  instruments  made  up  an 
orchestra  to  which  mother  or  I  played 
accompaniments  on  the  piano,  while 
we  sang  over  and  over  again  the  great 
oratorio  and  opera  choruses,  until  I 
was  as  familiar  with  them  as  with  my 
letters.  The  days  when  such  gather- 
ings were  easily  possible  seem  to  have 
gone  from  the  New  England  country 
towns,  taking  with  them  the  church 
choirs  which  made  the  bare  but  rev- 
erent country  churches  full  of  the 
melody  of  the  praise  of  God. 

It  was  a  little  later,  at  one  of  the 
"county  sings"  at  Plymouth,  that  I 
first  heard  B.  F.  Leavens,  then  the  or- 


FORTY     YEARS    OF    MUSICAL    LIFE. 


133 


ganist  at  St.  Paul's  Church  in  Boston, 
play  the  piano.  This  festival  was  con- 
ducted by  Leonard  Marshall,  then  the 
choir  master  at  Tremont  Temple. 
Later,  when  I  was  studying  in  Bos- 
ton, I  boarded  in  Mr.  Marshall's  fam- 
ily, and  sang  in  the  Tremont  Temple 
choir.  Mr.  Marshall  had  a  son  by  the 
same  name,  who  is  to-day  one  of  the 
best  known  of  the  teachers  of  music 
in  the  Boston  public  schools.  I  have 
made  special  mention  of  my  having 
heard  Mr.  Leavens  play  because  I 
was  soon  to  become  his  pupil.  His 
early  teachings  had  a  great  influence 
for  good  over  my  whole  musical  life, 
and  I  fully  realize  how  great  are  my 
obligations  to  him. 

When    I   was  eleven  years  old  my 
father  decided  that  I  ought  to  begin  to 
study  music  under  a  more  experienced 
teacher  than  my  mother,  and,  deter- 
mined   that    from    the    very    first    I 
should     have    good     instruction,     ar- 
ranged for  me  to  come  from  my  home 
in    Ashland,    New    Hamp- 
shire, for  the  winter,  to  re- 
main   in    Boston    and    take 
lessons     of     Mr.     Leavens. 
How     much     Boston     has 
changed     since     then !       I 
boarded     that     first    winter 
with  a  friend  of  my  family, 
— not   Mr.    Marshall, — who 
lived    on    Harvard    Street, 
off    Harrison    Avenue,    up 
and    down    which    I    rolled 
my  hoop ;  and  I  walked  for 
my      lessons      across      the 
Common  and  over  Beacon 
Hill  to  where  Mr.  Leavens 
lived,     on     Chilson     Place, 
near     the     foot     of     Green  f,<  w 

Street.  That  same  winter 
I  attended  Mr.  Spaulding's 
famous  dancing  school  in 
the  old  "Liberty  Hall,"  at 
the  corner  of  Essex  and 
Washington  Streets.  At 
the  end  of  the  winter  I  went 
back  to  Ashland,  and  to 
school,  practising  over  and 
over  what  I  had  studied  in 
the  winter. 


That  was  my  life  for  several  years. 
I  suppose  my  father  took  a  natural 
pride  in  my  work,  for  while  it  would 
never  have  been  his  nature  to  push  me 
forward,  he  was  always  anxious  for 
me  to  do  my  part  towards  the  pleas- 
ure of  others.  Whenever  at  singing 
school  or  social  gathering  there  was 
any  delay  for  an  accompanist,  he  would 
say,  "Here's  Martha.  She'll  play  for 
us,"  and  play  I  had  to,  often  when  I 
would  rather  have  sung,  or  perhaps 
have  passed  the  time  in  more  social 
pleasures  with  the  young  people  of 
my  own  age. 

I  do  not  speak  of  this  here  so  much 
for  its  connection  with  my  own  life  as 
with  musical  life  in  general.  I  would 
like  to  show,  if  I  can,  that  the  ability 
to  do  really  good  work  in  music,  as  in 
everything  else,  can  come  only  by 
years  and  years  of  patient,  conscien- 
tious work,  by  associating  with  good 
musicians  and  by  living  in  the  atmos- 
phere of  fine  music.     So  very  often. 


■>:■: 


LOWELL     MASON. 


134 


FORTY     YEARS    OF    MUSICAL    LIFE. 


J.    H.    MOREV. 

especially  now  that  it  is  known  that  I 
have  given  up  my  professional  work, 
do  young  people,  and  sometimes 
older  ones,  come  to  me  and  ask: 
"How  was  it,  Mrs.  Shepard,  that  you 
fitted  yourself  for  your  work?  I 
would  like  to  do  such  work  as  you 
have  done.  What  shall  I  do  to  be- 
come known  or  to  get  a  position  or 
engagements?"  I  have  always 
deemed  it  a  pleasant  duty  to  advise, 
encourage  and  help  along  those  who 


had  talent  and  ambition  ;  and  as  far  as 
I  could,  I  have  done  so.  My  work 
was  my  very  life  itself,  begun  before 
I  can  remember,  and  developed  by  al- 
ways doing  every  task  which  pre- 
sented itself  just  as  honestly  and  faith- 
fully as  I  could.  I  am  very  proud  to 
be  able  to  say,  and  I  think  I  may  be 
pardoned  the  pride,  that  in  over  forty 
years  of  musical  life  I  have  never 
failed  to  keep  an  engagement  but 
once,  and  then  only  on  account  of  the 
illness  of  one  of  my  family. 

My  musical  horizon  first  broadened 
in  this  way.  George  Wood,  who  was 
one  of  the  most  successful  of  the  New 
Hampshire  singing-school  teachers, 
and  had  conducted  several  such 
schools  at  Ashland  and  Plymouth,  ar- 
ranged to  give  a  concert  at  Concord, 
New  Hampshire.  To  my  surprise 
and  delight,  he  asked  me  to  come 
down  to  that  concert  to  play  a  solo 
and  the  accompaniments.  Of  course 
I  was  glad  to  go.  At  that  time  Walter 
Dignum's  band  of  Manchester  was 
probably  the  most  famous  musical  or- 
ganization of  the  kind  in  the  state. 
By  a  member  of  this  band  hearing  me 
play  at  Concord,  I  was  asked  to  come 
to  Manchester  and  play  at  a  series  of 
concerts  which  the  band  was  to  give 
there.     I  went,  and  gained  self-confi- 


"UNCLE    BEN"    DAVIS. 


DUDLEY    BUCK. 


FORTY    YEARS    OF    MUSICAL    LIFE. 


135 


ADELAIDE    PHILLIPS. 


dence    and    experience    from    the    en- 
gagements. 

Up  to  this  time  there  never  had 
been  attempted  in  New  Hampshire 
anything  more  ambitious  than  the 
"county  sings,"  of  which  I  have 
spoken,  except  that  in  some  places, 
such  as  Keene,  these  had  been  dig- 
nified by  the  name  of  festivals,  and 
had  been  improved  until  they  de- 
served the  name.  Among  the  music 
teachers  of  the  time  two  of  the  best 
known  and  most  successful  were  J. 
H.  Morey  and  "Uncle  Ben"  Davis  of 
Concord.  Mr.  Morey  had  the  reputa- 
tion of  being  the  best  pianist  in  the 
state,  and  "Uncle  Ben"  was  a  distin- 
guished teacher.  These  two  men, 
with  John  Jackman,  another  well- 
known  teacher,  conceived  the  idea  of 
organizing  a  state  musical  festival, 
which  should  meet  at  Concord,  and  to 
which  singers  should  come  from  all 
over  the  state.  They  carried  out  their 
plans  successfully,  and  the  first  state 
festival    assembled    in    Phoenix    Hall, 


Concord.  There  was  present  a  chorus 
of  a  thousand  persons.  To  accommo- 
date the  chorus,  the  stage  was  built 
far  out  into  the  middle  of  the  hall, 
and  the  chorus  was  about  as  large  as 
the  audience.  My  father  went  down 
to  join  the  chorus,  taking  me  with 
him,  as  he  always  did  to  such  gather- 
ings. I  had  no  idea  of  doing  anything 
at  the  festival  but  sing,  and  joined  the 
chorus.  There  were  two  pianos  on 
the  stage,  though,  and  when  Mr. 
Morey,  who  was  to  play  one  of  them, 
met  me  before  the  first  rehearsal,  he 
said,  "Martha,  I  wish  you  would  play 
that  other  piano."  I  said  I  would  play 
if  he  really  wanted  me  to,  and  did  so. 
That  was  my  most  important  engage- 
ment up  to  that  time.  After  that  I 
played  there  every  year  as  long  as  the 
gatherings  lasted.  The  state  festivals 
continued  for  several  years,  the  audi- 
ences growing  larger  from  year  to 
year,  and  the  choruses  smaller,  as  the 
flood  wood  in  the  latter  dropped 
out. 

The  festivals  at  Concord  brought 
into  the  country  many  able  musicians 
as  conductors  whose  conscientious 
work  in  the  drilling  of  those  country 
singers  was  to  have  a  wide  and  per- 
manent influence  for  good.  Mr.  L.  O. 
Emerson  conducted  the  first  state  fes- 
tival, and  Mrs.  Minnie  Little  was  the 
soloist.  Mr.  Emerson  was  a  distin- 
guished writer  of  church  music,  and 
he  was  equally  successful  as  a  festival 
conductor.       He    always     maintained 


MYRON    \V.    WHITNEY. 


136 


FORTY     YEARS    OF    MUSICAL    LIFE. 


SOLON     WILDER. 

good  discipline  with  his  singers  and 
he  had  that  personal  magnetism  which, 
is  so  essential  to  successful  leadership. 
Among  other  conductors  who  came 
to  Concord  were  W.  O.  Perkins,  Carl 
Zerrahn,  B.  F.  Baker  and  L.  H. 
Southard.  Up  to  this  time  the  work 
of  festivals  had  still  been  largely  de- 
voted to  psalmody,  anthems,  glees 
and  choruses  from  oratorios  and 
operas.  It  was  not  until  Carl  Zerrahn 
began  his  work  as  a  director  that  the 
country  singers  began  to  be  familiar 
with  oratorios  as  a  whole.  Travel  was 
not  so  easy  in  those  days  as  now,  and 
comparatively  few  persons  would  have 
had  an  opportunity  then  to  come  to 
Boston  to  hear  an  oratorio. 

The  first  time  I  played  for  Mr. 
Zerrahn  was  at  Keene,  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  among  the  selections  which 
he  gave  was  the  "Stabat  Mater," — the 
first  time  it  had  ever  been  given  there. 
The  playing  at  that  festival  was  a  very 
important  event  in  my  life,  both  from 
the  prominence  of  the  festival  and  be- 
cause it  was  there  I  first  met  Mr. 
Zerrahn.  The  Keene  festival  was 
then  probably  the  most  famous  in  all 
New  England,  being  relatively  what 
the  Worcester  festival  has  since  be- 
come.    In  the  wildest  dreams  of  my 


youthful  days  there  had  been  none 
more  extravagant  than  to  wish  that 
some  time  I  might  get  to  be  able  to 
play  at  a  Keene  festival.  The  opportu- 
nity came  very  unexpectedly.  A 
member  of  the  Keene  committee  who 
had  heard  me  play  at  Concord  recom- 
mended me,  and  I  was  written  to  and 
asked  to  come.  At  first  it  seemed  as 
if  I  could  not  leave  my  home  at  Ash- 
land, where  I  had  married  and  was 
living ;  but  I  knew  very  distinctly  that 
I  wanted  to  play  at  Keene,  and  I 
realized  that  it  might  be  now  or  never. 
So.  taking  my  six-months  old  baby 
with  me  and  a  woman  to  take  care  of 
him,  I  started  for  Keene.  Meanwhile 
the  committee,  it  seemed,  were  having 
anxieties  of  their  own  on  my  account. 
Mr.  Zerrahn  was  known  to  have  de- 
cided opinions,  and  it  was  reported  to 
the  committee  that  he  did  not  approve 
of  women  pianists  as  accompanists  for 
a  chorus.  Years  afterward,  when  we 
had  become  fast  friends,  he  told 
the  story  many  times  for  us  to  laugh 
over. 

"Mr.  Zerrahn,"  said  the  committee 
propitiatingiy,  "we  have  arranged  for 
a  pianist  for  you." 


W.     O.     PERKINS. 


FORTY     YEARS    OF    MUSICAL    LIFE. 


137 


LEONARD    MARSHALL. 

"Ah,"  said  Mr.  Zerrahn,  "who  is 
he?" 

"It  is  a  woman,  Mrs.  ■ " 

"A  woman!"  interrupted  Mr. 
Zerrahn,  "I  will  not  have  a  woman 
play  for  me!" 

"But,  Mr.  Zerrahn,"  implored  my 
friend,  "we  have  engaged  Mrs.  Shep- 
ard  of  Ashland.  She  is  a  very  fine 
pianist,  and  I  am  sure  you  will  like 
her." 

"I  have  no  doubt  I  should,"  de- 
clared Mr.  Zerrahn,  not  a  bit  placated, 
"as  a  woman  ;  but  as  an  accompanist, 
never!  In  the  first  place,  I  always 
feel  that  I  am  working  a  woman  ac- 
companist to  death  ;  and  in  the  second 
place,  if  she  doesn't  play  to  suit  me, 
and  I  say  anything  to  her,  she'll  cry. 
I  will  not  have  her." 

Can  more  unpropitious  auspices  for 
the  beginning  of  a  friendship  be  imag- 
ined? Fortunately  I  did  not  know  of 
them.  I  only  knew  that  I  was  desper- 
ately afraid  of  Mr.  Zerrahn,  the  Men- 
delssohn Quintette  Club,  who  were  to 
assist,  and  the  quartette  of  famous 
Boston  singers  who  had  come  as  solo- 
ists ;  but,  frightened  as  I  was,  I  real- 
ized that  perhaps  this  was  "my 
chance,"  and  I  meant  to  do  my  best, 
resolved  that  if  I  did  not  give  satis- 


faction I  would  never  have  to  feel  that 
it  was  not  because  I  had  not  tried.  I 
watched  Mr.  Zerrahn,  and  when  his 
baton  fell,  my  hands  came  down  on 
the  piano.  Greatly  to  the  relief  of  the 
committee,  as  I  afterwards  learned,  he 
was  pleased.  As  he  has  been  good 
enough  to  say  since:  "I  saw  that  this 
woman  had  talent,  and  T  made  up  my 
mind  I  would  help  her,"  adding,  "be- 
sides, she  didn't  cry." 

Really,  I  believe  the  fact  to  which 
he  referred  last  has  been  no  small 
factor  in  such  success  as  I  may  have 
had  as  a  festival  pianist.  I  have  al- 
ways tried  not  only  to  inspire  confi- 
dence, no  small  item  with  choruses  of 
inexperienced  country  singers,  but  I 
have  always  tried  to  smooth  down  all 
the  rough  places  that  I  could.  Peo- 
ple cannot  sing  half  as  well  as  they 
might  if  they  do  not  feel  pleasant. 

Just  here  I  would  like  to  write  a  few 
words  which  may  express  in  a  meas- 
ure the  regard  which  I  have  for  Mr. 
Zerrahn  and  for  his  work.  I  have 
played  for  him  for  forty  years.  I 
think  of  him  as  one  of  the  best  musical 
friends  I  have  ever  had.  He  was  al- 
ways kind,  thoughtful  and  helpful.  As 
a    conductor    he    was    unexcelled    for 


L.    O.     EMERSON. 


itf 


FORTY     YEARS    OF    MUSICAL    LIFE. 


EDWARD    LEHMAN. 
AUGUST  FRIES.  Wl'I.F 

THE    MENDELSSOHN 

tact,  for  wisdom  and  for  dignity.  His 
very  presence  commanded  respect.  I 
think  his  influence  on  the  musical  life 
of  this  country  has  been  as  great  as 
his  career  has  been  uncommon.  He 
came  to  New  England  at  just  the  op- 
portune time,  when  the  country 
needed  just  such  a  leader,  and  his  in- 
fluence has  been  correspondingly 
strong  for  good. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  quartette  of 
Boston  singers  who  came  to  Keene 
as  soloists.  No  small  portion  of  the 
pleasure  which  I  have  derived  from 
my  work  has  come  from  the  acquaint- 
ances which  I  have  made  in  this  way, 
although  one  of  my  greatest  anxieties 
also  came  with  the  soloists,  since  they 
were  almost  always  talented  and  thor- 
oughly trained  musicians,  and  I 
could  very  rarely  know  beforehand 
what  they  would  select  for  their  solos, 
nor  how  difficult  an  aria  I  might  be 
asked  at  a  moment's  notice  to  play  an 
accompaniment  to.  In  cases  like  that, 
I  have  so  many  times  looked  back 
with  thankfulness  to  my  father's  train- 
ing, which  gave  me  confidence  and 
ability  to  attack  almost  anything  at 
sight. 


THOMAS    RYAN. 


FRIES.  FRANCIS    RHZ1A. 

QUINTETTE    CLUB. 

I  remember  I  first  heard  Annie 
Louise  Cary  sing  in  a  little  hall  in 
Bradford,  Vermont,  where  I  was  play- 
ing for  a  festival.  She  was  then  only 
a  church  singer  in  Boston,  and  had 
probably  never  even  dreamed  of  the 
great  success  which  she  was  later  to 
attain.  She  impressed  me  even  then 
with  the  quality  of  her  voice,  the 
magnetism  with  which  she  held  her 
audience,  and  the  remarkable  ability 
with  which  she  read.  Personally, I  was 
charmed  with  her  hearty  manner.  She 
was  one  of  those  rare  persons  who  are 
honest  in  every  way,  and  I  have 
counted  her  friendship  one  of  the 
privileges  of  my  musical  life.  When 
she  was  in  Milan,  I  had  a  letter 
from  her  in  which  she  said  her 
teacher  wanted  her  to  study  for 
opera,  but  that  it  did  not  seem  to 
her  as  if  she  was  equal  to  it.  The 
photograph  which  I  have  used  in 
this  article  was  taken  in  Chicago, 
and  bears  in  her  writing  the  date  of 
May,   1877. 

I  have  a  photograph  of  the  hall  in 
Bradford,  where  Cary  sang.  It  was 
taken  many  years  afterward,  and 
shows  me  at  the  piano  there.     Speak- 


FORTY     YEARS    OF    MUSICAL    LIFE. 


-T39 


ing  of  halls,  my  work  has  taken  me 
into  about  everything-  of  the  kind  in 
the  country,  from  the  perfectly  ap- 
pointed opera  house  to  little  rooms  so 
bare  that  a  barn  would  be  well  fur- 
nished in  comparison  with  them. 
Twice  at  least,  once  in  Canada  and 
once  in  Pennsylvania,  I  have  played  in 
buildings  which  might  to  all  appear- 
ances have  just  been  used  for  a  prize 
fight,  since  the  earth  floor  was  deeply 
strewn  with  sawdust.  Think  how 
music  must  have  sounded  in  such  a 
place ! 

At  one  time  and  another  I  have 
played  for  pretty  nearly  all  of  the  best- 
known  solo  singers  and  performers 
who  have  lived  in  Boston,  as  well  as 
for  very  many  of  the  most  famous 
who  have  come  to  Xew  England. 
One  of  the  funniest  experiences  of  this 
kind  that  I  ever  had  was  with  Camilla 
Urso,  the  great  violinist.  She  came 
to  Boston  when  I  was  seventeen  years 
old.  I  happened  to  be  in  Boston  then 
taking  lessons  of  Mr.  Leavens.  Mr. 
Marshall,  in  whose  family  I  was 
boarding,  arranged  a  concert  in 
Tremont  Temple  at  which  Camilla 
Urso  was  to  play,  and  he  asked  me 
to  play  her  accompaniments.  Neither 
Mr.    Marshall    nor    I    could    find    out 


CAMILLA     URSO. 


ADDIE     RYAN. 


what  she  was  to  play  until  she  came  to 
a  rehearsal  which  had  been  arranged 
for  her  on  the  morning  of  the  day  of 
the  concert.  The  music  proved  to  be 
something  with  which  I  was  familiar, 
and  I  did  not  have  any  anxiety  as  to 
my  ability  to  go  through  it  satisfac- 
torily. When  the  star  performer  saw 
me, though, agirl  of  seventeen, and  was 
told  that  I  was  to  accompany  her,  she 
declared  that  she  didn't  believe  that  a 
girl  could  play  the  accompaniment, 
winding  up  finally  by  handing  the 
sheets  of  music  to  me  and  declaring 
that  she  would  not  rehearse  a  note 
until  I  had  gone  home  and  practised 
the  music.  There  was  nothing  for 
me  to  do  but  to  go,  and  I  went ;  but 
when  I  came  back  in  the  afternoon, 
and  we  went  over  the  score  together, 
violin  and  piano,  the  great  artist  was 
pleased  to  declare  her  satisfaction, 
and  we  became  such  good  friends  that 
the  next  day  I  went  with  her  to  have 
the  photograph  taken  which  I  have 
included    in    the    illustrations    of    this 


140 


FORTY     YEARS    OF    MUSICAL    LIFE. 


and  director.  I 
always  enjoyed 
p 1  a  y  i  n g  his 
compositions. 
lie  had  great 
individuality, 
and  his  accom- 
paniments are 
so  thoroughly 
musical  in 
t  h  e  in  s  e  1  ves 
that  they 
m  i  g  h  t     well 


A    COUNTRY    FESTIVAL    HALL. 

article.  Afterwards  I  played  for 
her  at  Concord  and  at  other 
places. 

At  the  time  of  the  Peace  Ju- 
bilee in  Boston  I  came  down 
from  my  home  and  sang  in  the 
chorus.  That  was  the  first  time 
I  saw  Parepa  Rosa  and  heard 
her  marvellous  voice.  Her  hus- 
band was  with  her  and  I  remem- 
ber one  day  seeing  them  walk  up 
the  central  aisle,  when  she  had 
her  arm  around  him — she  was  so 
much  larger  than  he  was. 

Among  my  pleasantest  recollec- 
tions are  those  of  Dudley  Buck,  who 
has  been  so  successful  as  a  composer 


.;n'i.^'v'\  '    - 


3%hl  Vk$^^*i 


=r*:Y 


THE    PEMIGEWASSET    HOUSE. 


CITY    HALL,    KEENE. 

serve  as  solos.  The  first  time  I  saw 
Mr.  Buck  was  at  Keene,  and  some 
little  time  after  the  festival  which  Mr. 
Zerrahn  directed  there,  of  which  I 
have  written.  Mr.  Buck 
was  to  direct  one  of  his 
own  compositions,  a  secu- 
lar cantata  called  "The 
Legend  of  Don  Munio." 
I  went  to  the  festival  a 
little  worried,  because  I 
was  afraid  I  should  not  be 
able  to  suit  him.  This 
may  have  been  because  I 
had  always  heard  my 
teacher,  Mr.  Leavens, 
who  was  an  intimate 
friend  of  Mr.  Buck,  speak 
so  highly  of  his  abilities. 
Instead    of   being   difficult 


FORTY     YEARS    OF    MUSICAL    LIFE. 


141 


H.     G.     BLAISDELL. 

to  please,  as  I  had  feared,  Mr. 
Buck  proved  very  pleasant,  and 
after  the  festival  was  over  gave  me 
one  of  the  most  satisfactory  com- 
pliments I  ever  received.  Since 
the  frankest  of  vanities  are  par- 
doned in  reminiscences,  and  since  this 
warm  word  gave  me  such  peculiar 
pleasure  and  pride,  I  shall  venture  to 
repeat  it.  "We  are  living  in  a  time," 
said  he,  "when  we  are  not  surprised  at 
anything  we  may  hear  in  the  way  of 
music,  since  it  is  possihle  for  us  to 
hear  the  most  eminent  musicians  of 
the  world,  those  who  are  well-nigh 
perfect  in  technique, — so  if  I  should 
say  that  you  play  better  than  any  one 
else,  you  might  doubt  my  veracity ; 
but  the  days  of  common  sense  are  as 
rare  as  they  ever  were,  and  you  have 
it."  Afterwards  I  played  at  the  St. 
Albans,  Vermont,  festival  for  him, 
where  "Don  Munio"  was  given  again. 
After  the  festival  was  over  Mr.  Buck 
thanked  me  for  my  work,  and  asked 
me  if  I  remembered  what  he  had  told 
me  at  Keene.  I  said,  "I  shall  never 
forget  it."  "I  wish  to  repeat  it,"  said 
he. 

At  the  St.  Albans  festival  the  Men- 
delssohn Quintette  Club  was  with  us. 
The  members  of  that  organization,  as 
well  as  of  the  Temple  Quartette,  and 
the  Beethoven  Club,  were  thor- 
ough    artists,     with     whom     it     was 


always  a  pleasure  to  work.  Mrs.  H. 
E.  H.  Carter  was  the  solo  singer. 
Mrs.  Carter's  picture,  which  I  use  in 
this  article,  was  given  me  about  that 
time,  as  was  also  that  of  Mr.  Buck. 
Mrs.  Carter  was  a  delightful  singer, 
so  musical,  and  with  such  a  truly 
musical  temperament.  She  had  a 
sweet,  rich  voice,  and  was  one  of  the 
first  church  singers  of  her  time  in  Bos- 
ton. 

Another  composer  and  director 
who  has  had  a  great  influence  for 
good  on  the  musical  life  of  New  Eng- 
land was  Solon  Wilder  of  Worcester, 
who  frequently  conducted  the  festi- 
vals there.  Mr.  Wilder  was  a  highly 
cultivated  man,  a  composer  of  good 
music,  and  a  conductor  of  ability.  At 
the  time  of  his  death,  I  remember  the 
chorus  of  the  Worcester  festival  at- 
tended his  funeral  in  a  body  and  sang 
his  composition,  "Rock  of  Ages." 

During  the  last  thirty  years  the 
genius  and  skill  of  Mr.  H.  G.  Blaisdell 
of  Concord,  New  Hampshire,  has 
contributed  to  the  success  of  very 
many   of  the   musical   gatherings.      I 


MRS.    H.   E.   H.   CARTER. 


I4i 


FORTY     YEARS    OF    MUSICAL    LIFE. 


CLARA    LOUISE    KELLOGG. 

have  played  for  him  a  great 
many  times.  He  has  a 
keen  appreciation  of  the 
finest  music  and  is  a  good 
conductor,  bringing  out 
good  results  in  little  time. 
His  orchestra,  too,  has 
been  very  successful  under 
his  leadership. 

Boston,  our  New  Eng- 
land capital,  is  the  musical 
capital  of  America.  Every- 
body knows  about  the 
musical  life  of  Boston ;  its 
famous  musical  organiza- 
tions and  its  great  series  of  i 
concerts  of  every  kind.  But 
not  everybody  knows  of 
the  conscientious  and  im- 
portant 'work  which  is  be- 
ing done  year  after  year, 
and  has  been  done  for 
many  years,  in  many  of  the 
smaller  \Y\\  England 
cities.  The  Worcester  fes- 
tivals command  general  at- 
tention, and  the  oratorio 
work  of  the  societies  at 
Salem  and  Springfield  and 
a  few  other  places  is  some- 


times noticed  in  the  Boston  and  New 
York  papers ;  but  much  remains  to  be 
said  of  musical  life  in  New  England. 

At  times,  when  I  get  to  "retrospect- 
ing,"  it  seems  to  me  as  if  I  had  lived 
through  generation  after  generation, 
as  musical  generations  go,  the  faces 
of  so  many  singers  rise  before  me  who 
have  won  recognition  by  their  efforts 
and  merits,  have  pleased  the  public 
during  their  day,  and  then  have  gone 
on  to  make  room  for  others,  who  in 
their  turn,  too,  have  made  way  for 
those  who  now  are  doing  such  good 
service.  Away  back  in  the  days  when 
I  was  first  beginning  to  play  in  public 
were  Julia  Houston  West  and  Mrs. 
Minnie  Little,  Flora  E.  Barry  and 
Mrs.  J.  H.  Long.  With  them  were 
M.  W.  Whitney  and  James  Whitney, 

■"Bass"  and  "Tenor"  Whitney,  as 
we  distinguished  them.  All  were  true 
artists,  and  all,  like  all  of  those  I  shall 
name,  Boston  singers.     Annie  Louise 


ANNIE    LOUISE    CARY. 


INDIAN    SUMMER. 


143 


C  a  r  y  I  have 
spoken  of.  Then 
there  were  Ade- 
laide Phillips, 
Mrs.  H.M.Smith. 
Addie  Ryan, 
Mrs.  D.  C.  Hall, 


Mrs.  H. 
yer  and 


E.  Saw- 
Mrs.  H. 
F.  Knowles.  H. 
C.Barnaby  every- 
body knows,  and 
also  D.  M.  Bab- 
cock.  Then  there 
are  "Billy"  Fes- 
senden,  who 
made  a  success  in 
light  opera,  Ella 
Cleveland  Fender- 
son,  Jennie  Pat- 
rick Walker,  Ger- 
trude Edmands, 
J.  C.  Bartlett 
Ivan  Morowski. 
that  these  are  all 


George 


CARL   AXD    PAREPA   ROSA. 

J.  Parker  and 
I  do  not  mean 
but  these  are  the 


faces  which  rise 
most  vividly  be- 
fore me.  With- 
out exception 
they  were,  and 
those  who  live 
still  are,  artists  in 
their  profession, 
conscientious 
and  faithful  in 
their  work  ;  and 
the  service  which 
they  have  ren- 
dered and  the 
pleasure  which 
they  have  given 
have  been  great. 
[  feel  sure  that 
the  life  of  the 
people  of  New 
England  has  been 
made     better    bv 


the  work  they  have  done,  just  as  I 
know  my  own  life  has  been  made  hap- 
pier by  my  association  with  them. 


INDIAN  SUMMER. 

By  Alice  Van  Leer  Carrick. 

A    SOFT  wind  moves  through  all  the  garden  walks, 
And,  stirring  gently,   as  it  onward  blows, 
Bends  down  the  tall  heads  of  the  hollyhocks, 
And  strips  the  petals  from  a  faded  rose. 

Light  whispers  all  across  the  grasses  run, 
That  sigh  and  pause  and  sigh  again  and  sway. 
And  pigeons,  preening  burghers  of  the  sun, 
Strut  in  its  warmth  the  whole  exultant  day. 


The  velvet  nights,  the  days   of  lessening  heat. 
The  growing  symphony  of  Autumn's  strain. 
All  weave  in  one  a  melody  complete, 
The  echo  faint  of  Summer's   last  refrain. 


Ill 


